


The High Priestess & The Wheel

by Theoroark



Series: The Deck [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Character Study, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Post-Stone by Stone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:28:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27785992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theoroark/pseuds/Theoroark
Summary: “What is his function here?” Satya asks Zenyatta, as Genji’s introducing Baptiste to the monks.“He’s a healer,” Zenyatta says.“You’re a healer.”“He’s a better healer,” Zenyatta says, sounding amused. “And we often come across people who need healing, don’t we? I think he’ll be good for everyone.”-Satya returning to Suravasa, Baptiste arriving for the first time, and their friendship.
Relationships: Background Jean-Bapstiste Augustin/Genji Shimada, Satya "Symmetra" Vaswani & Genji Shimada, Satya "Symmetra" Vaswani & Jean-Baptiste Augustin
Series: The Deck [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619719
Comments: 13
Kudos: 22





	The High Priestess & The Wheel

Genji leaves the monastery to help the reformed Overwatch. Satya leaves the monastery to reform Vishkar. She travels back to Suravasa a few months later, at a loss for what to do with people who admire her and celebrate her and refuse to listen to her. She works remotely and meditates and talks with the villagers. The feeling of home still makes her skin prickle sometimes, but she can’t help but want it too. Zenyatta calls the feeling melancholy.

Genji returns a few months after her, with a boyfriend. 

Baptiste introduces himself as a traveling medic, which seems about as believable to Satya as when Genji introduced himself to her as simply a monk. She’s not entitled to his story the second she meets him though, she knows that. She can let that slide. What gives her pause is when Genji announces Baptiste will be working with the Shambali. 

“What is his function here?” Satya asks Zenyatta, as Genji’s introducing Baptiste to the monks. 

“He’s a healer,” Zenyatta says.

“You’re a healer.”

“He’s a better healer,” Zenyatta says, sounding amused. “And we often come across people who need healing, don’t we? I think he’ll be good for everyone.”

Satya looks over at Genji. He’s grinning so hard she thinks his cheek plates might pop off, and he hasn’t let go of Baptiste’s waist since he’s gotten here. Genji’s never been an unhappy person in the time Satya’s known him. Despite what he’s told her about his past, he’s always seemed at peace. But she’s never seen him this loudly joyful. He’s overflowing with happiness and so Satya can’t be bothered by this, can she. Not even when Genji’s busy all night, showing Baptiste around the temple, and Satya had been looking forward to finally talking to her friend face to face about everything she’s afraid of. 

-

_ Her mother is sitting next to her and humming. The walls of their house are canvas stapled upright with scrap metal, and their neighbor is on the other side of the cloth. They have a baby and it keeps screaming. Satya can’t control the sound, can’t anticipate it, it’s grating and awful and she wants to scream too, but she knows that’ll make her parents upset and she’s trying. Her mother’s trying too, Satya knows. She used to hold Satya, until she realized that made it worse. Now she sits near her instead. Her presence and her song create a little cocoon for them, walls thinner than canvas. It’s not enough but it helps. _

-

Satya gets up later than the monks do. When she gets down to the kitchen that morning, it’s mostly empty, save for a relaxed looking Omnic and Baptiste. Satya smiles, gets herself some fruit and tea, and sits down across from him. He’s drinking powdered coffee, she notes. The monks keep a tin of that stuff in the kitchen, for visitors too hooked to appreciate the tea blends they make in house. 

“Good morning,” she says. 

“Good morning,” he says. 

Then there’s silence. Satya’s mind races. She feels less guilty about silences than she did before, but with Baptiste, she feels responsible for any awkward air.

So you’re with Vishkar?” Baptiste asks. 

Satya no longer feels responsible. “Yes,” she says. She drinks her tea. 

“I ran into them a few times, when I was traveling,” Baptiste says. “What do you do for them?”

“I make things for people,” Satya says. “People who very badly need help. And I try to make sure that help is appropriate.”

“That’s good to hear,” Baptiste says. “Based on what I’ve seen, there have been times–“

“I said try,” Satya cuts in. “I only have started trying this recently. I have my work cut out for me.”

Baptiste tilts his head. He looks like he’s about to say something but then Genji and Zenyatta come back from meditation. Zenyatta floats over to wash dishes while Genji sits down next to Baptiste. 

“I’ve barely gotten to see you since I got back, Satya,” Genji says. Satya smiles a little. 

“You only got back last night.”

“Still. It’s been so long. And whenever I would text you, you kept leaving me on read.” 

Satya snorts out a laugh. “I procrastinate responding, then I forget. I believe I apologized most of the times it happened.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Genji reaches over to Baptiste’s plate and plucks a little pastry, ignoring Baptiste’s indignant noise. “How have you been?”

“Alright,” Satya says. And she lets the silence sit until Baptiste changes the subject. 

Later, when they’re all out doing community work, Genji finds her as she’s fixing a woman’s motorbike. “Are you okay?” he asks. “You seemed a bit off earlier.”

Satya sighs and sets down the hard light she was weaving. She’s always been a terrible liar. “Vishkar has been hard,” she says. “Everyone says they want to do things better, but then they don’t actually do it. They just get someone else to give me their excuses. If they out and told me they didn’t care, I could just leave. But I feel like everyone wants to do something, they just won’t until I give them the opportunity.”

“Haven’t you done that already?”

“The easiest possible opportunity,” Satya amends. Genji has his mask on so Satya has no clue what he’s thinking. She blindly keeps going. “It’s possible, I’m sure it is. I mean, look what I did here with Aurora–“

“Didn’t you do this with no oversight from Vishkar? What you’re trying to do now is like… all oversight from Vishkar.”

“But that’s where the important things are! Not just statues, lives!”

Genji’s quiet. Satya takes a deep breath and tries to remember what she had talked about with Zenyatta, when she first came here. The spiritual is necessary. People will die for beliefs, just like they die for water and bread. 

It’s just she sees so many people dying for water and bread. 

“I’m sorry,” Satya says. 

“Don’t apologize,” Genji says. He’s quiet for a beat more then asks, “Does Baptiste being here bother you?”

“I don’t think so,” Satya says. “I just don’t know him yet. And I missed you.”

Genji holds an arm out. Satya smiles and scooches closer so he can side-hug her. “I missed you too,” he says. “And once you get to know Baptiste, I know you’ll like him.”

Satya smiles and nods. Genji’s a good, kind man. And she missed him, and she doesn’t want to argue with him any more. 

-

_ Satya’s father works at a hotel in the city. In the lobby, there are the kinds of magazines rich people read. They talk about the world and art and science. Satya’s father replaces last month’s issues with this month’s, and brings Satya the back issues instead of throwing them out. She has a giant pile of them in the corner, organized by date and then alphabetical by publication. She reads them cover to cover and her favorites are the scientific ones. They give her hope. She spouts off all the facts about engineering and omnics and cybernetics she learns to her parents. They always seem entertained by them, unlike some of the other kids, who get bored quickly.  _

_ “You’re brilliant, Satya,” her father tells her one day, after she reads him a particularly interesting column. “You’re brighter than I’ll ever be.” She lowers the magazine and smiles at him. _

_ “You’re the one bringing me these,” she points out. “I wouldn’t know any of this without you.” She thought she was saying something nice to him, but he seems sad when he hugs her. She wishes she knew how to make him feel better. _

-

As Satya gets to know Baptiste, she starts to like him. 

She fought it at first, even if she doesn’t want to admit it. She shouldn’t have fought it, not when he meant so much to Genji. But Baptiste was so recalcitrant about his past, so smooth and charming with his evasions. It didn’t sit right with Satya. It felt like he thought he could pull one over on her. 

But days past, then weeks, and any play Baptiste could have been pulling never came to fruition. Instead, Baptiste is wry and funny in a way that takes Satya a minute to get but when she does, she enjoys it. He’s talented– not just a good medic, but handy with the scrap metal parts she’s often unfamiliar with. And he notices things like the kinds of fruit Satya likes for breakfast, the kind of music on the radio Zenyatta taps his fingers along to. He’s easy to like, and he’s so graceful about it Satya can’t even be envious of that. 

She still doesn’t know where he’s from though. Genji remains evasive about it, and when Baptiste talks about his past he only mentions the Caribbean Coalition and Haiti, when his accented Telugu makes it clear he’s been to many other places. And that still strikes Satya as unfair. He knows where she’s from, where Genji’s from, where Zenyatta’s from. Baptiste will scrape his dessert onto Genji’s plate and give any auntie who looks his way a lift to the bus stop, but on this he’s selfish. 

She stays working at Vishkar while she’s in Suravasa. She sits in her room and writes strained and polite emails, mirroring the stilted syntax she’s read a thousand times. She sits out in the garden when no one else is around and has hushed conversations on her cell phone. 

A few weeks after Baptiste arrives, Satya is working in the garden on a bench, hidden in a couple of palmy bushes. Her computers are spread out all around her and she’s starting to pack up for the day when Sanjay calls. He tells her the Dorado project will continue on track. “We can have you give a seminar on cultural sensitivity to the engineers on the ground,” he tells Satya. 

She rubs her head.“It doesn’t matter what I tell them, if it’s being treated as optional!”

“I don’t think our engineers are malicious, Satya,” Sanjay says. He keeps speaking, before Satya can gather her thoughts and interject. “I just think they need to be educated. I thought you wanted to educate people?”

“Can I get back to you?” Satya says. 

“Certainly.”

Satya hangs up. She tilts her head up, staring at the gradient of gray-red in the sunset sky. She blinks long and hard. Crying about this will make it feel worse, she thinks. 

“Everything okay?”

Satya snaps her head down. Baptiste is standing at the entrance to the little alcove she found. “Zenyatta wanted me to get you for dinner,” he says. “But I… are you alright?”

Satya turns her attention back to her computers. They’re still a mess. “Work,” she says, as she starts to pack up once more. 

“Work,” Baptiste repeats. “So, Vishkar?”

Satya nostrils flare. She’s not in any mood to be judged, not when she’s so aware of what a fool she’s been. “Yes, Vishkar,” she snaps. 

Baptiste sits on the bench next to her. Before Satya can stand up, he says, “I used to work for Talon.”

Satya stills. She sits back on the bench. Baptiste has a dry sense of humor, but she doesn’t think this is the kind of joke he’d make. “Talon?”

“The terrorist organization,” Baptiste confirms amicably. “I didn’t know when I joined, to be fair. I just knew they were hiring and they paid well. That’s how they get most recruits, from places like Port au Paix and Suravasa.” He looks out over the garden, to the chain link fence meters away that abuts ramshackle houses. “But eventually, I started to suspect. And I kept going after that. Because I thought I could still do good with the money I was getting from them, even if what I was doing to get the money wasn’t good.”

Satya studies him. She isn’t surprised, exactly– he’s with Genji, people who are this evasive about their pasts have something to hide. But it wasn’t what she was expecting either. And while she appreciates the gesture– “It’s not quite the same thing,” she says. “I don’t mean that as a way to say I’m better than you,” she adds quickly, “or that I’m judging you, or anything–“

“I know.”

“But Talon’s mission is fundamentally– evil,” Satya says. “Vishkar could do great things. If it wanted to.”

“I don’t know how much of a difference that makes,” Baptiste says. “I mean– I started a clinic back home with the money I got from Talon. Talon does incidental help, Vishkar does incidental harm. I don’t know if we can change what the Talons and Vishkars do, we just control what we do.”

Satya sets down the laptop she was holding. She pulls a meditative orb out from her pocket, and rolls it between her hands. “I don’t know about the Talons, but I think we can change the Vishkar,” she says. “I think we need to. I know the advice you’re trying to give.”

“No advice, just what I’ve been through.”

“Still. I know what you’re trying to say. That I can’t make a change in something so broken.” Satya looks towards the temple. Inside she knows is the statue of Aurora, lined in gold. “I think I can. Or even if I can’t, I think I need to be there to pick up the pieces when it falls.”

Baptiste nods. “I can understand that,” he says. “It’s probably not anything like what I dealt with in Talon.”

“It probably is, I’m just not explaining it right.”

“No, no.” Baptiste waves a hand. “You know what you’re doing. You have plans. I actively didn’t want to know what I was doing for the longest time there.”

“When did you find out?” Satya asks. 

“Bad mission,” Baptiste says. “And I saw a child who reminded me so much of myself. And I didn’t want to do that to anyone, and I wanted to help him. And I couldn’t.”

Satya thinks back to Rio, and the girl with the scarred face in the crowd. “It still must have been hard leaving,” she says. “There must have been a reason you stayed for so long. 

”Yeah,” Baptiste says. “I left good people there.” He rubs the back of his neck. “Well. Maybe not good people. But people who could have been good.”

“They could change,” Satya tells him. “Talon could change with them in it.”

“Or Talon can’t change, but it can’t change them that much, either. And so they’ll keep being good, even when it pisses their bosses off.”

Satya laughs. “I don’t know who’s the optimist here, and who’s the pessimist.”

“Neither do I,” Baptiste says. He smiles and stands. “Ready for dinner?”

The sun has slipped under the horizon, and the air is starting to cool as much as it ever does in the spring in Suravasa. Satya gathers her laptops in her arms and follows Baptiste into the warm temple. 

-

_ Satya’s parents tell her she needs to go away. Satya asks, “Did I do something wrong?” They shake their heads and console her in unison. Satya’s grateful. She didn’t think she did something wrong, she tries to help as best she can. She doesn’t eat too much. She keeps her head down and apologizes when she offends someone and doesn’t ask why. But whenever a kid gets sent away around here, it’s because they’ve done something wrong. _

_ “It's the Vishkar school, down South,” Satya’s mother tells her. Satya’s heart picks up. “Do you remember that test your father took you to last month? You passed with flying colors. We’re so proud of you, love.” _

_ “What if I want to stay here with you instead?” Satya asks, her voice small. _

_ Satya’s father’s brow furrows. But her mother answers right away. “This is what’s best for you, Satya,” she says. “You have to go.” _

_ The light rail Satya boards has tinted windows. She doesn’t think her parents know how those work because when she peers out of them, she sees her mother sobbing against her father’s chest on the platform. And Satya knows, and Satya is trapped, and Satya is guilty.  _

_ Her mother took the choice from her because the choice was a terrible one. Satya could have taken it back, Satya could have insisted. Her mother is just a woman crying on one side of the glass, like Satya is just a girl crying on this side. Her mother tried to give her an illusion as her final gift. Satya ruined it immediately.  _

_ The train pulls away from the station. When Satya writes her mother a letter at school, she does not tell her what she saw. After everything her mother has given her, Satya must give her that. _

-

The first day of summer, Baptiste comes back to the temple with a blender. The noise it makes shatters the thick air of peace the temple so carefully cultivates. Satya moves a few rooms away and Baptiste promises to work fast. A couple minutes later, Genji pokes his head in her hideout and tells her the drinks are ready. 

These kinds of icy drinks usually hurt Satya’s teeth, and she’s prone to brain freezes. She lets it melt a bit as they walk from the kitchen to the temple steps. Baptiste and Genji sit down leaning on one another. Zenyatta floats behind them, no drink but adorned with little paper umbrellas in his joints and waistband. 

Satya’s been struggling these past few months with never having enough, not enough people to change missions, not enough money to rebuild favelas, not enough energy to do everything she needs to. She’s become accustomed to lacking. But on the steps of the temple, Zenyatta and Genji and Baptiste just seem happy that she’s here. She has a sugary drink in her hand and she’s laughing as Genji tries to make Zenyatta a halo with his umbrellas. 

It’s not even that it’s enough, it’s not even that she’s enough. It’s more happiness than she expects. It’s bubbly and she feels full. She sets the drink down and rolls the orb between her hands, smiling to herself. It’s almost overwhelming, not having to give or take or do, to be happy to just exist right now. 

**Author's Note:**

> I’m [@tacticalgrandma](https://twitter.com/tacticalgrandma) on twitter if you want to talk to me there!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, and any comments or kudos would mean the world to me 💜


End file.
